The Goonies have plenty of shocking behind-the-scenes facts that make one of the best family-adventure movies even more legendary. For instance, Josh Brolin revealed nepotism worked against him auditioning for the ‘80s flick, and a deleted octopus scene was cut because it didn’t look good. However, star Sean Astin debunked one longstanding BTS rumor that “offended” him regarding one memorable scene.
During Awesome Con’s Q&A moderated by People, one fan brought up a longstanding rumor to the stacked cast of The Goonies. It's been said that the young cast’s reaction to seeing One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship was genuine since director Richard Donner allegedly kept it hidden from view until filming. Sean Astin had no problems debunking that speculation:
I was sort of offended that they had that idea, that they wouldn’t let the kids see the pirate ship, so that they could capture their real reaction. Like, what? We don’t know how to do real? We did real reactions all the time.
I can understand why Sean Astin would be “offended” by that. The Goonies marked the film debut of a lot of the film’s child stars. He wouldn’t want the impression that the kids couldn’t act unless something was sprung on them. They were more than capable of giving an authentic performance due to their talents and not because of being caught off guard.
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of on-screen moments in movies where a cast’s surprised take is caught on screen. For example, a crazy behind-the-scenes fact from the sci-fi film Alien stated that the cast reactions were real during the chestburster scene. The same was said in a BTS fact of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where the wide-eyed expressions of the kids seeing the chocolate room were genuine since director Mel Stuart wanted their honest reactions of seeing the room for the first time. Even though in both of these scenarios the cast was told what would happen, nothing can prepare you for the real thing that’s in front of you compared to what’s written in a screenplay.
The Goonies cast may have known what the famed pirate ship would look like. At the same time, Sean Astin admitted that he made sure to give a performance that wouldn’t allow an audience to catch onto that:
But I remember wanting to perform in such a way, because I had had a sneak peek of it. So I wanted to perform in a way that really made them think that they had captured the honest reactions, so they would for 40 years be like, 'Oh, we got these kids to do this thing!
While cast members like Sean Astin saw One-Eyed Willy’s ship before, others apparently did see the pirate ship for the first time, like Martha Plimpton. She revealed at the panel that her surprised expression upon seeing the ship was “honest” and joked it only required one take. Josh Brolin also said on Instagram back in 2019 that he never saw the ship before either until filming. The shocking spectacle in front of him caused him to let out an F-bomb, which made him have to do the take all over again. After all, a 150-foot-long pirate ship isn’t something you see every day.
It looks like the longstanding rumor of the kids not seeing One-Eyed Willy’s ship until shooting has officially been debunked by Sean Astin. While Goonies never say die, they’ll also never lie about their stellar acting talent.
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